WASHINGTON - House Democratic leaders are intent on sidetracking bipartisan attempts to change course in Iraq at least until fall, officials said Tuesday, rather than allow nervous Republicans to vote for legislation that lacks a troop withdrawal deadline.
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Several lawmakers and aides said the goal was to deny members of the GOP rank and file a chance to proclaim their independence from President Bush by voting for a limited measure — after months of backing his policy in an increasingly unpopular war.
Polls have long shown the war to be unpopular, and a survey released during the day by the Democracy Corps, which advises Democrats, reported that 61 percent of those polled want their lawmaker to begin requiring a reduction of troops.
By contrast, the survey found that 35 percent want their representative not to undermine the president.
One strategist, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Democrats had concluded Republicans "want to put some daylight between themselves and the president" and should not be allowed to do so "after voting in lockstep for the past four years." All officials spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to discuss the issue publicly.
One such bill requires the Pentagon to provide Congress with plans for a troop redeployment within 60 days. The measure cleared the House Armed Services last week on a bipartisan vote of 55-2.
Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, one of the sponsors, said in an interview that he was hoping for a vote before Congress begins a vacation at week's end.
"The one thing that would actually advance the agenda would be to get a redeployment plan," said Abercrombie, a self-described progressive who has voted for far stronger legislation, including a fixed troop withdrawal deadline.
In a challenge to his own leadership, Abercrombie said, "I would hate to be in a situation where the Democratic Party was trying to explain that it wants to score political points rather than end the war."
House Democrats set their strategy as Adm. Michael Mullen, President Bush's choice to become the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, glided through his confirmation hearing at the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Mullen told lawmakers the military is spread thin by the war and testified that the security situation in Iraq "is better, not great, but better" since Bush ordered additional troops deployed last winter.
Still, he said, "there does not appear to be much political progress" in Iraq toward resolving long-standing issues that might ease sectarian conflict.
Mullen said his goal is to have troops ordered to Iraq to spend one year there followed by two years at home, but he said the current strength of 160,000 troops would have to be cut in half for that to happen.
In April, the Army added three months — for a total of 15 months — to the standard yearlong tour for all active-duty soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the change would ensure that all active-duty Army units get at least 12 months at home between deployments.
Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the panel's chairman, urged Mullen to "use the power that lies in your hands to force those Iraqi politicians" to forge compromises.
Mullen said repeatedly said he wants to see an assessment due in September by Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq, before determining what the next step should be.
Bush has said he, too, is awaiting the report before deciding what change in policy, if any, is needed.
So, too, Congress, which is expected to adjourn this week until early in September. Among Republicans, there is a scarcely concealed hope that the president will embark this fall on a new policy in a war that has resulted in the deaths of more than 3,650 U.S. troops.
About 40 GOP members of the House and Senate are sponsoring legislation intended to shift the mission of U.S. troops. Four Senate Republicans broke ranks recently and voted to advance a troop withdrawal measure to a final vote, and the overwhelming vote in the House Armed Services Committee underscored the extent of the concern among Republicans.
In large measure, conclusions reached by House Democratic leaders in recent days mirror an approach taken recently by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
The Nevada Democrat abruptly postponed debate on a military bill recently after Republicans stymied a final vote on a troop withdrawal plan. The effect was to block action on at least two bipartisan plans that were designed to nudge Bush in a new direction but lacked a firm withdrawal deadline.
In the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said there would be at least two votes later this week that challenge Bush's conduct of the global war on terror.
The first would force the administration to stop using the facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to hold enemy combatants.
The second would guarantee U.S. troops more time at home between deployments to Iraq than they now receive, a proposal she said makes it very difficult for the military to conduct operations it has planned in Iraq.
No vote is planned this week on a proposal by Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., that calls for a withdrawal to begin within 60 days but lacks a completion date.
Murtha, one of Congress' most persistent critics of the war, unveiled his proposal several days ago and said he hoped it would draw support from Republicans who have supported Bush.
One official said that measure may resurface in September, when Congress must vote on additional funding for the war, but cautioned that it may change significantly by then.
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